Node.js CI workflow (forwardemail/supertest)

The Node.js CI workflow from forwardemail/supertest, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Node.js CI workflow from the forwardemail/supertest repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its MIT license.

Below, Latchkey shows a faster, safer version produced by its optimization engine.

The workflow

# This workflow will do a clean installation of node dependencies, cache/restore them, build the source code and run tests across different versions of node
# For more information see: https://help.github.com/actions/language-and-framework-guides/using-nodejs-with-github-actions

name: Node.js CI

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  build:

    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    strategy:
      matrix:
        include:
          - node-version: 18.x
          - node-version: 20.x
          - node-version: 22.x
          - node-version: 24.x

    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v3
    - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      uses: actions/setup-node@v3
      with:
        node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
        path: ~/.npm
        key: ${{ runner.os }}-build-${{ env.cache-name }}-${{ hashFiles('**/yarn.lock') }}
    - name: Install Dependencies On Node ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      run: yarn install
    - run: npm test
    - name: Coverage On Node ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      run:
        npm run coverage
    - name: Upload coverage to Codecov
      uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3

The same workflow, on Latchkey

Estimated ~20% faster on cache hits, plus fewer wasted runs and a safer supply chain. Added and changed lines are highlighted.

# This workflow will do a clean installation of node dependencies, cache/restore them, build the source code and run tests across different versions of node
# For more information see: https://help.github.com/actions/language-and-framework-guides/using-nodejs-with-github-actions
 
name: Node.js CI
 
on: [push, pull_request]
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  build:
    timeout-minutes: 30
 
    runs-on: latchkey-small
 
    strategy:
      matrix:
        include:
          - node-version: 18.x
          - node-version: 20.x
          - node-version: 22.x
          - node-version: 24.x
 
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v3
    - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      uses: actions/setup-node@v3
      with:
        cache: 'npm'
        node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
        path: ~/.npm
        key: ${{ runner.os }}-build-${{ env.cache-name }}-${{ hashFiles('**/yarn.lock') }}
    - name: Install Dependencies On Node ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      run: yarn install
    - run: npm test
    - name: Coverage On Node ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      run:
        npm run coverage
    - name: Upload coverage to Codecov
      uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3
 

What changed

• Run on Latchkey managed runners with one line (runs-on), which apply the fixes below automatically and self-heal transient failures. This example uses latchkey-small; pick the runner size that fits the job.
• Cancel superseded runs when a branch or PR gets a newer push.
• Cache dependency installs on the setup step so they are served from cache.
• Add a job timeout so a hung step cannot burn hours of runner time.

1 third-party action is referenced by a movable tag. Pin it to the commit SHA (Latchkey resolves and applies this automatically) so a repointed tag cannot change what runs.

What Latchkey heals here

This workflow has steps that commonly fail on transient issues (network, registries, flaky browsers). On Latchkey managed runners they are detected, retried, and self-healed instead of failing your build:

• Dependency installs

This workflow runs 1 job per trigger. On Latchkey the same minutes cost up to 58% less than GitHub-hosted, with zero queue time.

Actions used in this workflow